My own take on the Prank

[pippin_999]

No: HPFGUIDX 152664

--- In HPforGrownups at yahoogroups.com, "Steve" <bboyminn at ...:

> Third, no one forced Snape to go. He made a conscious decision to go
> against the rules, into likely danger, and with foreknowledge that he
> was circumventing protections put in place and endorsed by the
> Headmaster. Sirius did not bodily throw Snape under the tree. Snape
> put himself in danger. He put himself into an obvious danger, or at
> least into a danger that would have been obvious to anyone who had
> thought about it; any one other than a young, impulsive, headstrong,
> vengefull teen. 

Pippin:
An otherwise factual summary veers into speculation. All we know about
Snape's reason for entering the willow is this: "Well, of course, Snape
tried it--".  "Those are wallpaper words pasted over a very large
gap in Lupin's recounting of what happened. Snape was young and
vengeful, but he was *not* known for being impulsive and headstrong.
He was known for being "clever and cunning enough to keep himself
out of trouble" -- GoF ch 27. 

We've learned a great deal about the ways magic might induce someone
to act against their interest, far too much to take it for granted that 
Snape was acting entirely of his own will, IMO. Of course if someone
not only told him how to get inside the willow but compelled him
to try, knowing that he would encounter the werewolf, that would be  
attempted  murder.

I agree that it wouldn't be Sirius's style. But Lupin's possible 
motive is once again being overlooked. He had no reason at all
to risk his secret to play a prank on Snape. But he had very 
compelling reasons to be afraid of him.

Snape had already found out part of Lupin's secret. He'd seen Madam 
Pomfrey taking Lupin to the willow, and he knew that Lupin disappeared 
every month. Snape was noted for his knowledge of the Dark Arts and 
had been taught  how to recognize a werewolf. 

Now, AFAWK, Snape had discovered nothing more. But did Lupin
know that? Snape has a nasty habit of letting on that he knows more
than he really does. Put that together with Lupin's imagination and
a guilty conscience, and Lupin had to be asking himself: What else
has Snape seen? What if Snape has seen everything? What if he only 
needs proof? If he gets it, all four Marauders will be going to 
Azkaban for a long, long time. And it will all be Lupin's fault for
leading them to become Animagi. 

It would be no use trying to impress all this on Sirius and James. They
would laugh at Lupin's fear. Even if they understood the risk,
it would only make defying it more fun for them. And then, maybe, Sirius 
tells Lupin that he's let Snape in on how to enter the tunnel. Serve 
him right if he gets killed. 

Well, if Snape *deserves* to die...it wouldn't be so wrong, would it,
to make sure he finds his way into the shack at the appropriate time?
If Lupin is caught, only he will be to blame. Only he will go to Azkaban.
His friends, who risked everything for him, will be safe. And Lupin
owes them so much. But after all, he might get away with it, and
if Snape deserves to die, why shouldn't he?

Snape's screams will be lost in the usual hullaballoo from the shack.
Broken furniture and blood everywhere are the usual aftermath of
a werewolf transformation. Transfigure the corpse into something
else, smuggle it out of the shack, "borrow" James's invisibility cloak
and arrange for the mangled body to turn up in the forest. Everyone
knows there are werewolves in there. 

Lupin was young, thoughtless, carried away with his own cleverness
--and it would be so *easy.* 

Pippin